You always choose to stay
by random-k
Summary: Until Dawn, sole survivor endings
1. To the rescue

"_You always choose to stay  
Spend your nights keeping me away  
You think you stand a chance to last  
Against the ghosts of your past?"_

**Salvaged**, By Natewantstobattle

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_I own nothing but my own Ideas_

_Until dawn, sole survivor endings. Chapter names from butterfly effects. _

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To the rescue

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It's hard to believe, you are alive.

You shouldn't be alive. Not after being dragged through a window. Not after the fall you took, and the many hours spent unconscious down there. Hypothermia should have killed you. That… monster, should have killed you.

You shouldn't believe in monsters, at your age, but there is no other way you can think to describe what happened. You never had a clear view of it, but when it carried you, it was strong and terrible. It smelt of decay and old blood. Its shrieks were inhuman.

It was Mike who saved you. Mike who ran after you. Mike who… didn't survive. You survived, on a fluke. You picked yourself up, when you were conscious enough to stand, and got out of the mines, despite your fear.

Somehow you made it.

Somehow, you are the only one who made it.

The lodge is on fire. A male and two female bodies were found inside. No one knows what happened to the others. It makes you sick. It makes you scared.

What happened to Emily, your old best friend, one of the smartest people in your group, whose insecurities could turn her into a bitch at times, but could always be counted on to make the smart decision? What happened to Mike, who charged bravely after you, who has the girliest scream you had ever heard, and braved your teasing with good grace? What happened to your friends?

The marks on your body will scar. The time spent unconscious, has caused brain damage. What will you do with yourself now?

You don't know what happened to everyone else. Maybe the rescue crew is wrong. Maybe they are alive. But after what happened with Hannah, and Beth, you have every right to be worried.

Oh god. If you ever see Josh again, you owe him so many apologies (for that horrible prank, and for his sisters, and for how little you were there for him after). You will apologize to Sam too. And you are going to make it up with Emily, get to know Matt better, and kiss Mike, and get Ashley and Chris to hook up at last.

You know you won't see at least two of them, but you have to hold out hope of seeing some of them again.

It helps you get up again, some mornings.


	2. Save yourself

Save yourself

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_This update is earlier then I would have otherwise planned it, because it is Canadian Thanksgiving. Regardless of your feelings on Thanksgiving, or what time of year it it in the future, lets go donate to the food bank. Because eating shouldn't be a privilege. But you are here for a chapter, not to have me chatter at you. Go enjoy the chapter. _

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You are alive, because you are a terrible person. Because you left other people to die, in order to live. You killed them, because you are a coward.

You may have bickered that night with Emily. The tower was a terrible time to bring up an old argument. Fire all around you, the shrieking of the metal giving out, and all you could think of was what Ashley showed you. Of your jealousy, of your insecurities. And it made you angry and irrational, and you left behind your girlfriend, as she was begging you for help.

Left her to die.

When you woke up, in surprisingly good shape, after the fall, you found Jessica. Emily's former friend, who is covered in cuts, and almost swaying on her feet. Who you hid from a monster with. Who you left behind to die, while you ran away.

She didn't survive.

You know that she was killed by monsters. You, and whatever was in that mine.

The rescuers tell you that there were two bodies in the burning lodge. A male and female. They don't know what happened to the rest of your friends.

Monsters.

The words freeze in your throat, but you know the truth. It was monsters.


	3. Who gets the Gun?

Who gets the gun

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They say, when under pressure, people show their true colours.

Your friends are not the people you thought they were.

Jess had not had your best interests at heart after all, and that had led to the death of Beth, and worse, for Hanna.

Matt left you to die. Abandoned you, when you hoped he could keep you safe. Mike almost shot you. Mike was trying to send you out of the safe room, outside where monsters roamed, and he almost shot you, at the spurring of Ashley. Ashley, who almost killed you, and was quieter than you expected from a panicky person about what happened to Chris. Ashley who disappeared after staying behind to close the hatch.

You don't know what happened to her, but you take a guess.

Josh, who wasn't dead, who had traumatized his best friend, with the worst prank in the world.

You are not in a mood to be charitable to their memories, when they interview you. And really, who the hell interviews someone when they have just escaped a traumatic situation!

You have survived. You have survived a falling radio tower, you had lived, despite being left for dead. You made your way out of the mines, and away from a monster chasing you, with minimal help from a stranger. You were nearly shot in the head,by one of the last people you would expect it from. You escaped building full of monsters, into the care of help you called yourself.

You are a survivor. You might not have lived long, if you hadn't called for help.

It's horrible. Its isolating, and terrifying, but you will not let it stop you.

You are going to live, out of spite if nothing else.

* * *

_I realized, in ending where everyone lives, Emily gets betrayed by someone she trusts. Either Matt leaves her to die, or Mike almost shoots her, at the hysteria of Ashley._


	4. Left Behind

Left behind

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_Canadian election's happened today. I'm tired after it, but it seems like a good time for an upload. Cheers!_

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You are a coward. It has kept you alive, where braver and better people have died. You froze. Like you froze holding the gun as the time ran out, like you froze while the Wendigo went after the stranger. You acted on impulse, like you did when you left Josh in the shed (and oh god he's dead, your best friend since grade three, who needed more help then you knew, and you never gave it, and he's dead). Like you did when you went back for him, and someone else died to save you.

You ran away, like you did from his body, like you did from the house. From Ashley, who died in there, from Emily who died in the basement afraid, and away from Sam, and Mike who died to set it aflame.

You are not a hero. Not like Josh tried to make you, who in his own twisted way, was trying to make you happier. You may have been made to look like one, in his 'prank' but when faced with true danger, you balked, and real hero's died for you.

You left Ashley to die when you could have done something. Grabbed her hand, brought her out the door with you. Maybe Ashley wasn't the best person, maybe the stress of the night had gotten to her badly, but she still didn't deserve to die. No more than Emily deserved to die being shot by Mike, her former the stranger deserved to die defending you. Or Beth and Hannah deserved to die in the snow.

They all should be living their lives right now. But it's just you. Just you, and oh god, how are you going to face their families after this...

How are you going to bury your friends, when they were such a big part of your life?


	5. Point Blank

Point blank

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_Happy Friday friends_

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You are a murderer. You may not have held the weapon yourself, but you have killed people. Friends.

Angry at Chris, angry about Josh's fucked up prank, something in you had gone cold, as he shouted for your help. You didn't move. You didn't open the door. He would have killed you to save himself. Something in you thought "let him die."

And he did. Decapitated, head rolling across the ground, dead eyes staring accusingly into yours. "You did this."

No one tells you this, but you hear it anyways. You did this, it's your fault. Maybe it's Chris. Maybe it's Josh.

That wakes something up inside you, from where you have gone dead. Terror. And it is terror that drives you to panic when you see Emily's bite. The books you read back at home me , says that a bite can turn people. Your terror inspires fear in Mike. He starts to panic. Emily is angry, and afraid. But you have no room in your head for her. Only cold terror. You are not going to die tonight. You refuse to. Mike picks up the gun. Emily is pleading now.

He shoots her in the head, blood spattered against the wall, an empty socket that stares at you accusingly. You did this.

You did this. And it wouldn't matter. They are all dead.

It do anything but spread senseless death. You find that out when you read the stranger's book. It saves your life possibly, when you hear Jessica's voice. You read the book, and you remember that they can mimic people.

Maybe you should have gone to it anyways. Died. Maybe it would have been better. Or maybe you would have doomed Sam as well.

Not that it would have changed much. Sam is dead. Sam and Mike died killing the things. They died killing the things, while you ran out of there.

You should have stayed, should have tried to make up for the deaths that you caused. Instead, you have only left more bodies behind you.

You should confess, you should go to prison. You would deserve it.


	6. Important Discovery

Important discovery

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_Well, you guys are awesome! I'm planning to put the last one up on Halloween, but there's no reason this one can't be sooner!_

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You are alone. It is your worst nightmare. You are alone. You have pushed away everyone who cared about you, have hurt them beyond forgiveness. They probably just came back to get the cable car key. They certainly haven't come back for you again.

Or maybe that's not it. Maybe they are dead. Dead to the monsters in this mine. Killed by Hannah who became one of **them**.

You know what happened to her now. She starved. She starved and starved until she ate something she shouldn't have eaten.

You might go the same way.

You are hungry. Starving, after everything that happened during the night. You had not eaten much the day before, and you are feeling it now.

Hannah has left you, Sam climbed up the rocks to safety, and Mike has possibly drowned. Even your hallucination of Doctor Hill has left you. Chris is dead. Oh God, you got Chris killed, his headless body hanging above you, and you can't unsee him.

"There are worse things than being alone."

But there isn't. There's no one left here. You are alone. Alone save for the voices that talk in your head, that talk over each other. They are not the voices of friends. Most of them aren't. And the friends you do hear are angry. It wasn't Chris, because he can't be dead. Its not true. It can't be.

There are bodies down here. Sometimes they look like your friends. But that can't be true. They are not here. They left, like everyone else did. You don't know whose, bodies they are and that helps a bit, when the body starts to look a bit like food. Maybe some poor animal your father shot. There's no one left here. Only the dead reside here.

You stop yourself, for now, but you don't know how long it will last.

Youhopepleasepleasepleasethatsomeonewillcomesoon

* * *

_Josh needs an excorsiom or ten, and the line between real and not real is getting blurrier by the second. _


	7. At what Price

At what price

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_Hey. This Is later then I hoped. A bit behind now. But enough about me. Other things are happening. Goliaths Throne is streaming on DAgames/Iris, Halloween is happening, and Persona 5 royal is out in Japan soon. Enjoy the chapter_

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You should have waited for Sam.

After you failed to rescue Jessica, after you shot Emily, after you froze in the mines and left Josh to his fate, you should have done more for her. Gotten someone else out of this mess alive.

But you didn't. Sam is dead.

Sam ran for the switch, and you ran out the door. You lived. Sam didn't.

But why? Why would she sacrifice herself for you? It doesn't make sense.

Maybe she didn't. Maybe she had meant to get out. But you ran. You ran, and left her inside with monsters.

Coward.

Murderer.

You are probably going to be arrested for this. You are not going to fight it in court. You don't want to fight it. Jail is what you deserve. After all, Emily wasn't killed by the fire. The basement wouldn't have been as affected by the explosion. She would be intact enough, even though her blood may no longer be painting the walls anymore. The basement smells of death now, and you are responsible.

You may not have been holding the weapon for your other friends, but you are responsible for their fates all the same.

Headless bodies hanging from hooks. Heads washed out with the opening of the door, the stench of death overwhelming. Jess's face, staring up at you, open eyes glazed over in death, jaw ripped and broken. Ashley's eyes emptily open in the cage. Dead eyes, frozen in fear.

You tried not to look at the second time, trying to ignore Josh as he cried over his best friends headless body.

And Hannah. Oh God, what you did to Hannah. It was supposed to be a prank. It was supposed to get her to back off. Hannah died starving. Hannah starved until she dug up and ate her sisters body. Hannah became a monster. She was still somewhere in that monster. Despite the horrible things you have done to her, she still avoided you.

You tried not to look, but they will haunt your nightmares all the same. Just as your friends will from beyond the grave.


	8. Run or Hide

Run or Hide

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_Happy Halloween, friends_

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Mike didn't make it out. Mike didn't make it out, and it is your fault. You moved under the pressure, couldn't stay still, couldn't time it right. He died, and it is your died for you. He died because of you. He tried his hardest to save someone that night.

And any chance you might have had to save him, died when you flipped the switch, and everything went up in flames.

You can't feel regret over it. Not when it killed the monsters, who spent the night, stealing friends from you one by one, dwindling in numbers, until the horrible truth is staring you in the face.

Heads washing out the door, dead eyes staring accusingly at you. Bile rising in your gut at the sickening smell of death. Emily's death stands out as particularly gruesome to you. She is still dripping.

You try to close your eyes, try to look away, but you can't. Ashley's dead eyes stare out at you from her heads, separate from the rest, special somehow.

You told yourself to look after Ashley, after she watched Chris die in front of her. She needed comfort, attention and care, and you failed to give her any of it. You were so focused on moving ahead, so intent on taking any distraction to get away from the waiting and the fear you were all filled with as you sat in the basement. You don't look back as you marched on ahead. You didn't wait, and you didn't think about it, and kept not thinking about it, until you meet Ashley's lifeless eyes, and see the accusation in them.

You don't want to see it again, and you take any other opportunity offered. You choose to climb out of the mine, and leave your remaining friends to their fate. In a cave full of Wendigo's. While Josh was in no state to cope with anything.

You wish you had thought that decision over better in retrospect. You wish you were more surprised that only Mike made it out. You don't press for details. Maybe if you had stayed you could have made a difference. Maybe you could have helped them climb the walls. You don't know if it would have made a difference. Perhaps you would have all died together. And it's terrible, but you are horribly selfishly glad that you didn't.

You want to live, you discovered tonight. You want to live, and you are willing to be selfish to achieve that. Later you might feel horribly guilty over it, but when the helicopters come all you can feel is relief. Exhaustion setting in, as the adrenaline leaves you. Thankful to Emily, because who else would have the forethought to call for help.

Not you. You don't think far enough ahead to consider the consequences. You live in the present, focus on the now. Not the past like Josh, stuck in guilt and vengeance, not the future, planning ahead like Emily.

Is that what saved you? Or was it luck, pure and simple? You like to think that you played a part in your own survival. You friends have died because of things you didn't do. You've tried, and tried to be giving, and caring, and be there for them. But you are human. Simply and plainly human, and you can't give all of yourself away. At some point, there must be enough.

You have to save yourself, before you can pull anyone out of the darkness with you.

And you have. And maybe using that knowledge, you can save someone else. End the monsters on this mountain.


End file.
